Writing to Inform and Entertain

Posts by Adam Parker

He didn’t take it seriously at first, nor did his chief medical officer but thankfully six weeks after instigating the lockdown and isolation of Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison had slowed the rate of his nation’s Covid-19 infection. Indeed, it took a measure of cajoling to summon both men into action—particularly the early threats by the premiers of Victoria and New South Wales to go it alone. Yet, soon after that attempted coup, Australia had the closest thing to a wartime government in place—a National Cabinet meeting regularly and voicing the same message. Still, without the pushing of Victoria’s Chief Health Officer, Brett Sutton, in particular Australia’s creep to Level 3 containment—the point at which it finally put itself into an effective lockdown—would have…

It is a jungle out there but only in parts, for most of the world is desert, forest or grassland where survival comes not by strength but by thirsting, searching and sowing for The Truth. – Adam Parker.

I like to be surprised. Her name is Sina Doering aka “Sina-Drums”. You pronounce her name like the Warrior Princess. I like to be inspired. Her name is Mia Black. Sina’s German and Mia’s Irish. It would take a few days for me to come across Mia, but it would first take a viral-lockdown to find Sina. Yet, that’s how it happened browsing YouTube one autumn day Down Under, the country sealed off, its people inside, minds wandering and a spirit needing succour. And for some reason Sina-Drums showed up in my feed. I like how providence works that way. It showed the video thumbnail of a teen wearing a pink tee and jeans, long light-brown hair hung loose, a full drum kit in front…

When tomorrow dawns, so will Anzac Day: a day of memorial where the armed forces of Australia and New Zealand are honoured for their service to country encapsulated by one specific event in World War 1, the 1915 invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula in the Aegean Sea. This year Covid-19 will ensure that no marches will occur, no massed crowds at ceremonies hearing the Last Post, no gatherings at Returned Services League clubs and pubs—only simple reflection as families remain indoors or offer a salute from their driveways or retirement villages. But this year’s commemoration holds a lesson unsurpassed since World War 1 and World War 2. Gallipoli marks a politically driven defeat in which the Anzac’s finest soldiers were sacrificed to the murderous…

Here’s something inspirational I came across today, from a visionary leader and founder of the California-based board and wargame company, GMT Games, Gene Billingsley: A quote from one of my heroes, legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden. He used to preach to his players ‘Don’t let what you can’t do interfere with doing what you can.’ It sounds so simple and yet it is profound, both on the basketball court and in life. Fear, worry, doubt, focusing on our weaknesses, seeing how big or fast the enemy or opponent is—all these things can paralyze and keep us from moving forward, assessing our strengths, and using them to do what good we can in any circumstance. So I want you to understand, in a period…

Today we live in the shadow of a disease whose name will be etched in history as “The Great China Pandemic”, Covid-19. Its timing marks a unique anniversary. For it’s been just over 18 years since another terror wrecked the world. What makes it unique is with it comes the maturation of the first modern day generation born in wartime to reach adulthood: The 9/11ers. They were not just born into the futility of an ongoing War on Terror. They’ve since lived the spread of extremism, the re-emergence of Communism, the Capitalist exploitation of Communist Chinese cheap labour called “Globalisation”, and the concept that US corporations are “too big to fail”. And now, those same 18-22-year-olds are caught up in another epic disaster: an…

It was a small compound nestled among the hills of a fir tree wood. The air still had a crispness to it though they were a few miles inland from the sea. The van arrived. More like a truck really. A cab with an immense windowless compartment in the rear. The doors to a broad single-storied building opened. First men and women in white coats appeared. Then followed a staggered procession of a wretched humanity. A subdued gaggle of the mentally ill and the intellectually impaired. The white coats helped them aboard, latches were locked sealing them inside and a low wail among them began. The engine revved taking them down a road. It would be a short while before the driver turned his…